SustainabilityBlog.org

What will be the future of CSR?
CSR has now been discussed in the companies across the globe for more the 15 years but a lot of people in and outside of business are very critical of CSR.
Their argument is that CSR is a management fashion that will go away at one point and be replaced by something else who knows what. And so far I think it is fair to say has the current practise of CSR only led to lots of discussion, numerous strategy papers, countless books and the odd spot of good communication of responsible business practices. But that’s it.

I have worked and still work in the CSR field and need to agree and disagree with this evaluation.
CSR may seem to not change the business world for the better but in my opinion these critics seem to have not been able to see that the business practice of large multinationals 15 years ago and their practices now have changed dramatically.
Yes I agree that there is a long way to go but at least companies are going in the right direction. And this direction is clear:

• More stakeholder engagement and
• Integration of CSR in their business practices.

Companies like Novo Nordisk, British Telecom, BHP Billiton and many more have shown that there is a way to integrate CSR practices into the daily and long term business.

For me the main challenge and test for every company across the globe is to prove the individual company specific business case of whether CSR is helping them to increase their revenues by integrating CSR practices in their daily business, mid and long term business or not.
This might not sound simple but companies need to treat this as the most important question once they decide to use the concept and contents of CSR to become a more responsible business.
The jury is still out whether CSR will be there to stay and but one thing is certain. Companies need to take more responsibility in our society now and even more in the future. And the concept of CSR is capable of being one part of becoming a more responsible company but it is not the solution. And companies that disregard this aspect of their societal responsibility are only waiting for trouble to come their way.